


Warbound Mates

by monicawoe



Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gladiators, Chains, Collars, Cunnilingus, Dubious Consent, Gladiators, Light Bondage, M/M, Magic, Minor Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Mutual Masturbation, Planet Hulk, Thank me later, blindfold, bucky needs me, my ruin, my salvation, seriously if you haven't read planet hulk do yourself a favor and read it now, warbound mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 14:15:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4749449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monicawoe/pseuds/monicawoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve finds and frees his warbound mate, Bucky.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warbound Mates

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Боевые товарищи](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12005448) by [fandom_EvanstanStarbucks_2017](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandom_EvanstanStarbucks_2017/pseuds/fandom_EvanstanStarbucks_2017), [softly_play](https://archiveofourown.org/users/softly_play/pseuds/softly_play)



> gamma-filled thanks to my beta [counteragent](http://archiveofourown.org/users/counteragent/pseuds/counteragent)
> 
> Raaaaoooo!

"Tell me!" Steve snarled, pushing the edge of his axe harder against the GameMaster's throat. "Where is Bucky?"

The GameMaster swallowed, sending a trickle of blood down the axe blade. "I-I don't know! Let go of me!"

Steve lifted his axe away and pulled his captive in close. "Then I have no use for you." He glanced up at Devil, his loyal companion--his _only_ companion since Bucky's disappearance, six months ago. With a shove, he sent the smaller man tumbling to the ground at Devil's feet.

Devil leaned down, opening his massive, sharp-teethed maw and roared. The GameMaster huddled in on himself whimpering, a common reaction when confronted with the twenty-foot tall, red tyrannosaurus. "No--no please! I'll tell you, I'll tell you! Please!"

"Hold, Devil," Steve said, patting his battle companion on the flank. The dinosaur obliged, stepping back with an irritated huff. Steve rested his foot on the man's torso,

"The Red King has your warbound," the GameMaster said.

"How?" Steve asked, pressing down harder.

"I--I had to repay a debt," the man said, sweating profusely. He reeked of piss and fear. "He would only accept one of my best fighters in trade."

Steve's fury made his vision go a deep shade of crimson. "You should have traded all of us then," Steve said. Devil snuffed in agreement.

"You fought well enough with only your beast at your side," the man said, trying to keep his chin up.

"He is no beast, he is my brother, and he is as loyal to Bucky as I am." Steve crouched down low. "So tell me. In what scenario did you see yourself surviving this day?"

The man shook his head. "You can't kill me, the collar will-"

"This collar?" Steve asked, tugging the piece of metal from around his neck. "The one I disabled this morning?"

"How?"

"Your guards are not all as competent as you'd like to believe."

The GameMaster was truly frightened now, quivering as he clasped his hands together and squeezed his eyes shut. "Please spare my life, I'll give you anything. Anything--gold, a title, land--"

Steve grabbed hold of the man's satin lapels and dragged him up to his knees, leaning down until they were eye to eye. "Gold? Land? You have nothing I want. " He let his rage come then, knew how it was distorting his voice and his features, could feel the rage burning behind his eyes. "All I want is Bucky."

"I will petition the Red King, I will ask for Bucky's release, trade someone else in his stead, I'll--"

"No," Steve said. "You won't." He stepped back, nodded to Devil, and turned his back.

#

The climb to the palace was grueling, the burnt umber sun shining on Steve's skin. His body was stronger than any average human's, but the air was so thick with gamma in these parts it made even his lungs ache. But he'd done it. He reached the main gate to the palace, and found it strangely unguarded. He walked through the gates and though the halls inside were filled with hulks, they paid him no more heed than those outside. Only once he got near the center did one—a larger, red hulk—stop him. "Halt, state your business," he said, using the tip of his spear to punctuate his words.

"I demand audience with the Red King," Steve says without preamble.

The hulk guard snickered. "You're not in the position to demand anything."

"Audience will be granted." A man dressed in red and white with a feathered cloak and a golden beak curving down over his head, strode into the room through the high arch—the Falcon. Steve had heard tell of him, the King's right hand, a sorcerer powerful enough to make Strange himself uneasy. The hulks fell to their knees and bowed their heads. He stopped in front of Steve, grabbed his chin and looked him in the eyes. The Falcon's own were yellow, as reptilian as Devil's but churning with magic. "Your request will be heard." He let go of Steve and turned on his heel, heading back through the arch.

The hulks holding Steve pulled him roughly to his feet as they stood again, and led him forward—into the throne room. It was cavernous, made of the same roughly hewn stone as the rest of the palace, but this room was decorated differently, more refined. The floor was carved with an icon repeating over and over endlessly - the hourglass sigil of the Red King stained dark-red into the stone floor with what Steve guessed were multiple coatings of blood.

The Falcon stood in the center of the room. The large stone throne behind him was empty. "The Red King approaches!" he announced, spreading his wings wide, until they covered Steve's whole field of view. The crowd of hulks gathered in the room all fell to one knee, heads bowed.

With a shove, the hulks pushed Steve down to his knees as well. "Down," snarled one of them, as he smacked Steve on the back of the head. He lowered his eyes, like all the others.

The room fell completely silent and a chill passed through the air as the king entered--a tangible aura of authority and power.

"All hail the Red King!" The Falcon said, voice loud in the silence. Around him, the hulks leapt to their feet again, and the room broke out into a loud bellow, a chant. A single word, that Steve thought sounded like "widow"

"Stand, puny human," the hulk to his right said, pulling Steve to his feet.

The Falcon's wings folded, and finally Steve could see the Red King. She was beautiful.

The king smiled down at Steve with the look of someone accustomed to being feared. She was human. A good foot shorter than Steve, and at least three feet shorter than the average hulk, with straight, shoulder-length red hair. It wasn't the fact that she sat on the throne that made her the clear ruler here though, but her countenance --the hard line of her lips, the piercing gaze of her eyes instantly made Steve want to win her favor.

"Doom sent you," she said as way of greeting.

"Yes," Steve began, "but--"

"Will you attempt to kill Us, like the others?"

The hulks around her laughed, like the idea itself was too ridiculous to be entertained.

"I have no quarrel with you." Steve licked his lips, which had suddenly gone dry, "your Highness." He squared his shoulders and raised his chin, forcing himself to hold her gaze. "I come only to ask you to release a prisoner."

"We do not make a habit of taking prisoners," the king said evenly. "If an enemy crosses Our path, We prefer to slit his throat."

Steve swallowed, pushing his temper back. "But you hold a prisoner now."

"Perhaps."

"Please, your Highness. His name is James. James Barnes, and he is my--"

"You are unfamiliar with Our ways, beastslayer, so We will forgive you this once." She leaned forward and spoke very quietly. "Nothing here is yours. Within these borders, _everything_ is Ours."

Steve curled his fingers, heard them crack in the stillness that followed, but still, he kept his anger in check. "James Barnes came here to spare my life. I will do whatever it takes to spare his."

"You assume he is still alive."

"He is," Steve said.

"Your voice rings true, beastslayer. Tell us how you come to be so sure of this."

"Because we are bound. In war and in life." Steve's heart clenched with longing. "If he had died, I would have felt it."

The king raised an eyebrow and her lips curved. "A romantic. How quaint."

Steve bowed his head. "Tell me what I must do to win his freedom."

"His freedom?" She laughed, a high clear sound that pealed off the walls like bells. "Do you wish to spare his life or win his freedom? Those are two separate thing entirely." She leaned back in her throne. "We have spared his life this long, what makes you think it is in danger?"

Steve swallowed. "Your Majesty said that you do not make a habit of taking prisoners."

"We do not. But this one has proven...entertaining to us." She waved at the crowd of hulks dismissively. "These brutes know little of pleasure. But this _James_..." She stood, and all the hulks fell to their knees once again. She stepped to the very edge of the dais, leaned down to Steve until her fine red hair brushed his cheeks. "He has such skilled fingers, and a delightfully clever tongue." Steve's cheeks flushed with rage, and he grabbed the queen by her throat.

She grinned and grabbed Steve's wrist, her fingers hard as steel. He lost his hold on her immediately and cried out in pain. Faster than Steve could follow, she grabbed him by the straps on his chest armor, lifted him as though he weighed nothing, and threw him into the center of the throne room, where he landed painfully on the stone floor. The audience of hulks stayed kneeling where they were, which was perhaps even more frightening than had they moved on him.

Steve pushed himself to his elbows, and looked up at the king, expecting retribution. But she didn't look angry at all. Quite the opposite. "Your passionate disregard for your own life makes a convincing case." She settled back on her throne. "Contrary to what you may have heard, We are no tyrant. We rule fairly. If We did not, these hulks would not tolerate Our rule. We rule here because We are the strongest, but We take claims of mates very seriously. If he is yours, then he is yours, and We would not hold him here any longer. But you must convince Us."

She raised a fine-boned hand and three of the grey hulks to her right came forward. "Bring us Our Winter," she said.

The hulks bowed, then exited through a gate in the back.

The queen gestured to Steve, a slight, beckoning motion. He climbed to his feet, and approached the throne warily. He'd felt what she could do and had no intention of confronting her head-on again without a plan. He needed a strategy. If she truly had Bucky, then the moment was near. They could plan something together. They wouldn't even need to speak since they always knew what the other was planning. Together they stood a chance against the king's army of hulks certainly, but the king herself—they'd have to move carefully. Quickly. Perhaps if they could restrain her somehow...

"He will watch, but be unseen," the king said.

The Falcon stepped out of the shadows next to the king's throne, and Steve wondered if he'd been there all along. His strange eyes looked at Steve until they bored into him, sending tendrils of energy into his skin like static.

An angered grunt from the gate drew Steve's attention. He knew that sound, he'd heard it in a dozen battlefields, every time Bucky was injured, when Steve had had to pry bullets out of his leg. _Bucky._

He was in loose chains, running from the cuffs around his wrists to a collar around his throat, still wearing his battle-armor—which looked no more damaged than it had last time they'd fought side by side at the Killliseum. It was a small comfort to Steve—Bucky looked healthy, they'd been feeding him and he bore no new scars. But still—he was a captive here, and—

"Bucky!" Steve shouted, unable to restrain himself. But there was no reaction. Bucky kept his gaze down as the hulks brought him to the throne, shoved him to his knees in front of the dais as they had Steve minutes earlier. "Bucky! I'm here!"

 _"He can't hear you, Captain, or see you,"_ the Falcon's voice rumbled into Steve's mind. _"You will watch, but be unseen, unheard."_

 _"A mate responds to touch. If our Winter responds to your touch more than Ours, We shall consider him already claimed, and you may petition Us for his release. You will have one chance to win him from Us,"_ the king said, as she took Bucky's lead chain from her guard. _"But first I will remind him what he stands to lose if he leaves."_ She pulled on the lead and Bucky rose to his feet. With considerable care, she undid the collar around his throat and let it drop, so it hung between his cuffed hands.

"Leave us!" The king said, her voice sounding clearly through the large chamber. The assembled hulks all moved as one, obeying the command in an eerily ordered fashion. The only ones left were Steve, Bucky and the Red King. Even the Falcon had vanished back into the shadows he'd come from.

Just seeing Bucky again made Steve's heart speed. He longed to touch him again, a physical ache that radiated out from his heart. As soon as he was able, he would break the chains and they'd run. They'd find a safe haven, somewhere away from the battles of the arena, and the hulks, away from Doom, and then they could finally have peace, they could finally—

Bucky's sharp inhale drew Steve's attention. The king had pulled Bucky closer and was running her sharp nails across his chest, skimming his nipples. She pulled on the lead again, bending him down to her, put her hand behind his head and kissed him.

Steve's blood boiled as he watched them, more so because from where he stood he couldn't see how Bucky had responded to the kiss.

The king brought her nails raking down Bucky's bare back, leaving red trails behind. Bucky arched into the touch, another gasp escaping him.

The king grabbed him by the arms and pushed him down to his knees, then spread her legs and yanked him in closer. He leaned forward like he'd done it a hundred times before, until his face was buried between her thighs. Steve's fingernails dug into his palm, hard enough that blood welled up.

The king leaned back, her eyes closed, back arched with pleasure and she dug her fingers into Bucky's hair, tugging him down further. Her hips rocked and she let out a cry that echoed off the cavernous walls of the throne room.

She pulled Bucky away roughly, and he sat back on his heels. She looked down at Steve, satisfied, lips curved up in a lazy smirk. Her words spoke into his mind. _"You see? He's not so unhappy here, is he?"_

"You—you force him to do this."

_"No. He is repaying his debt."_

"What debt?" Steve shouted. "He owes you nothing!"

The king didn't move a muscle, but her expression went ice-cold and the temperature in the room plummeted. _"He came here with the intention to kill Us. For Doom. All because he believed it would spare your life."_

Steve swallowed. At least that much of what Doom has told him was true. His gaze turned to Bucky again, whose still-sweating body shuddered in the suddenly freezing room. His breath hit the chilled air in small white puffs, and Steve yearned to warm him.

 _"He is useless to Us otherwise."_ The king shrugged. _"Weaker than a Greenland child. Sending him to work in the mines or fight Our battles would be pointless."_

Steve nodded. "And...how much longer must he work until his debt is repaid?"

 _"I haven't decided yet."_ She held out her hand and the Falcon stepped into the world again, to place a strip of leather in her palm. _"These are the rules, Captain. We will blindfold Our Winter and the moment we do, the spell on you will be removed. He will hear you if you speak. But **if** you speak, he dies. If you remove his blindfold, he dies. Instantly. You must tell him who you are with touch alone."_ She leaned forward. "Do you understand these terms?"

She tied the blindfold around Bucky's eyes, then nudged him away from her throne with her knee. He knew the command well enough to stand and walk backwards off the dais. Then he sunk back to his knees and waited. The king gestured at Steve, and brought a finger up to her lips in a shushing motion. Steve felt the magic surrounding him lift. The Falcon lowered his beaked head, raised his winged arms and vanished.

Bucky sat back on his heels, and rolled his shoulders. A drop of perspiration traced its way down his gleaming back, and Steve's eyes followed it down. He could see the tension in Bucky's posture. Feigned calm. He was on high alert, aware that someone else was in the room. Steve longed to tell him, to touch him, to soothe the aching in his muscles. He could see from the curve of Bucky's back that his left side was bothering him.

Steve took a step closer and Bucky pushed himself up onto his hands, aware of someone approaching. Slowly, still not sure if this whole thing was an elaborate charade meant only to amuse the king, Steve kneeled behind Bucky and reached his hand out, laying his fingers on Bucky's right shoulder first.

Though Bucky held himself perfectly still, Steve could feel his soft shuddering intake of breath. He brought his thumb forward, moved it in a soft circle, and brought his other hand to Bucky's left shoulder, rested it right over the seam where metal met flesh. His hand trembled, so eager and so afraid he'd be killed before he could save him. Bucky's skin was warm, flush like after a battle. _Bucky,_ he thought, though he knew his warbound couldn't hear him. _How I've missed you._

He brought his lips down to Bucky's shoulder, kissed where his metal arm met flesh, and trailed his way up to the hollow of his neck. He tried to shut out the palace, to think of better days--even their early days here in this strange world, where they had only the dank dungeon of the arena. It hadn't mattered then, and it wouldn't matter now. He ran his tongue over the tender skin of Bucky's throat, then kissed his way up behind his ear, running his teeth ever so gently across the lobe. Bucky gasped and clutched at his chains. "Steve?" he asked. And his voice was gravelly, with only a trace of hope.

 _Bucky, yes it's me. I'm here._ Steve thought, with every cell in his body, with everything he was, strong enough that the world must know, strong enough that Bucky had to hear him. He pulled Bucky in close, resting his head against Bucky's shoulder and brought his hand to Bucky's chest, right over his heart, pressing down. _"They still beat the same,"_ he'd said once, under the desert sky. _"The world has changed, but we have not."_ Bucky opened his mouth in a gasp. "Steve," he said again, and brought his bound hands up, until his knuckles brushed Steve's hands and Steve took Bucky's hands, felt his way to those chains and began to pull--until the vibranium links dug into his joints, until he thought his bones would break, but he kept pulling. The only thing that mattered was that Bucky was here, and Steve would free him, no matter the consequence. Bucky moaned again, louder, "Steve!" and began to pull his hands apart. The chains snapped, broken links skittering across the stone floor. "Steve," Bucky said again, voice barely a whisper, and then he turned, grabbed Steve by the shoulders, felt his way to his face and brought their mouths crushing together.

Steve wrapped his arms around Bucky's waist and lifted him, until Bucky could straddle his lap. Bucky made noises, desperate and content, against him and under the thin cloth hanging from his waist he was growing heavy with need. Steve brought his hand down, slid it between the leather straps under Bucky's loincloth and wrapped his fingers around him. Bucky arched his back, rubbing himself along Steve's own hardening length.

Bucky kissed Steve again then, hard enough to bruise, moaning into him until Steve felt his bones hum with it. His whole body—every cell felt alive and electric, at Bucky's touch, so long had he been without it. He twined his fingers with Bucky's and brought their hands down to their cocks. Bucky threw his head back as he ran his hand up and down Steve's length and his own and cried out as heat spilled between them.

Steve's own release came moments later, an echo of Bucky's own. He let his head sink down, resting it on Bucky's shoulder, longing to see his eyes again.

Bucky stood, legs shaky, and walked towards the throne, like he knew the space well enough to do it even without seeing. He fell to his knees, head bowed. "My king, spare him. Take my life if you must, but spare him."

The king scoffed. "And there it is." She raised an eyebrow and gestured down at Bucky. "He is yours, captain, for he is your mate, as surely as life is death's." She stood and walked down the dais, stopping just before Bucky. She took him by the wrists and pulled him up to standing. Then carefully, she undid the blindfold and threw it to the floor.

Bucky turned to Steve, eyes shining with hope. His mouth curved into a hesitant smile.

The Red King snapped her fingers. A soft rumble came from all around them as all the hulks returned, filing in a wide circle around them. "These two are free to go," the king said. "They will live in our borders in peace. Any who harm them will answer to us." She nodded to Steve. "Go, with our blessing."

Steve took Bucky's hand and bowed his head. "Thank you, your Highness. Should you ever need us, we will stand by your side."

The king laughed. "Until the gamma makes you whole, We have no use of you."

Bucky stepped forward then. "We can be your eyes and ears in the lands outside your borders."

"Spies?" She raised a perfectly curved eyebrow. "Now, that does sound interesting."

"We have...unfinished business with Doom," Bucky said, looking at Steve now. "He may seem all-powerful but he is not. We may not be able to defeat him ourselves, but we can find his weakness. And then perhaps, together—"

"Take down the man who would be God?" the Red King said. "Those who have tried have failed."

"We will not fail," Steve said, eyes still on Bucky. A whole new warmth unfurled in his chest—with Bucky by his side again, he had no doubt they could de-throne Doom. They could stop him together, they could even find a way back home. Together, they could do anything.

They left the palace and found Devil waiting for them outside. He let out a pleased snuffle and lowered his massive head, so they could both climb on. The dinosaur fell into an easy lope and they rode off, away from the palace, out towards the setting sun.

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't already, do go and read Planet Hulk. It's basically a Captain America He-Man fusion with dinosaurs. It's everything you ever wanted and didn't know you wanted.


End file.
